Travis Tritt adds to the holiday fun at Meadowbrook

Thursday

Aug 28, 2008 at 9:11 AMAug 28, 2008 at 9:19 AM

What keeps Travis Tritt in the game, says the country-hit maker, is that "I can play just about any position on the field."

"In my opinion, I'm not a home run hitter. I'm not the kind of person I think who people say 'He's the greatest singer I've ever heard.' I don't have that kind of voice. That belonged to Ray Charles or a Mariah Carey, those kinds of people. I'm not someone considered the most prolific songwriter on the face of the planet like a Bob Dylan.

"Versatility is what keeps me being able to be a country singer, also rock or also rhythm and blues, and being able to feel just as comfortable doing a duet with a David Lee Roth or George Jones."

The artist gets to demonstrate what he means again in headlining the Labor Day Country Fair Sunday, Aug. 31, at Meadowbrook U.S. Cellular Pavilion, Gilford. The 2:30 p.m. bill includes Keith Anderson, Steve Azar, Jimmy Lehoux, Digger Dawg, Rick Page and the Roundups and more.

Tritt said he likes the terms "outlaw" and "renegade" when applied to his music. "I always believed my music was different. Any time you do music your own way, you are going to have battles to face with the powers that be and the record labels, etcetera. It's always nice to be in a situation where you can say, 'You told me this wasn't going to work and I went out and made it work. You told me it wasn't commercial and I sold 6.5 million albums," he said.

Just how commercial the Marietta, Ga., native has been — sales in excess of 14 million albums — was put into perspective in his 1995 "Greatest Hits — From the Beginning" album. It contained 10 Number 1 songs from Tritt's first four albums.

His autobiography, entitled "Ten Feet Tall and Bulletproof," came as an unexpected opportunity. "They called and asked me if I'd like to write a book," he recalls. "I said, 'Man! What in the world am I gonna write about? I wasn't an abused child. I haven't had any major crises in my life. I never tried to commit suicide. I'm not in some rehab center somewhere. I haven't been in those situations. I don't know possibly what I can write about. I'm only a singer.' "

He accepted the challenge by trying to take readers behind the scenes of the music business. "An audience sees the most fun and easiest thing I do all day. I live for the stage. When I perform that's the most fun I have," he said. "But what fans don't see are the hours of preparation that makes the show happen and years of preparation before that gets you signed. There is a lot of work to it, a lot of banging your head against the wall to make things happen. That's what I wanted to show."

He has enjoyed a virtual lifelong love of music, teaching himself how to play guitar when he was 8 and starting to write songs at 14. With his eyes on a career in music, he recorded a demo in 1982 at a private studio which was owned by Danny Davenport, an executive at Warner Brothers.

Davenport liked what he heard. They recorded more demos while Tritt played the honky tonk circuit. The vocalist was forging his own sound, fusing elements of country-rock and Southern rock to his honky tonk country.

Warner Bros. Nashville signed him in 1989 and released his debut album, "Country Club," in 1990, preceded by the Top Ten hit, "Country Club."

He was on his way.

Tritt said he does not see that career as a series of highs and lows, but a series of plateaus to move up to. "If you are fortunate in your career and have had any kind of luck at all, you'll have opportunities where you can move up from one plateau to another plane, and you become that much more recognized," he explained.

Tritt was recognized as among the new wave of artists generating renewed interest in country music.

"It's like Vince Gill said, 'I don't think country has changed a whole lot,' " Tritt said. "I think it has grown tremendously and the exposure on television has been an absolute must. That's very evident that television would play a major role in country just by the tremendous power videos had. Warner Bros. had a policy of no new artist having videos. I was the exception. When we came out with 'Country Club,' they saw so many people call up radio stations. It was very obvious to see how much power the visual impact of television had."

It became, he recalled, "a constantly growing thing" with an increasing number of shows emphasizing videos, and special performances like he gave at the Super Bowl (in 1994). "That just made people that much more aware of what was going on in country music," he said. It's like that cereal commercial: 'People who don't like country haven't listened to it.' "

— by Ryan Alan

Contributing Writer

(TICKETS: Tickets to the Labor Day show are $25 to $64. Doors open at 2 p.m. Phone 293-4700 or log on to: www.meadowbrook.net)

@Headline 12 pt.:About Azar ...

@$:Steve Azar, started writing songs at the age of 10. He first gained national attention with the release of his self-penned hits, "I Don't Have to Be Me ('Til Monday)" and "Waitin' On Joe."On stage, he delivers an explosive, high-energy, crowd-pleasing show for his fans and has toured with some of music's best, including Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band and Hootie & the Blowfish.

In May, Azar released INDIANOLA, the first release on his independent imprint Ride Records. The new music showcases Azar's multifaceted talent as a performer, musician, producer and as a songwriter (he wrote or co-wrote all fifteen tracks). The collection is laced with a soulful blend of country, blues and rock that reflect his deep Mississippi Delta roots. "You're My Life" will be released to national country radio Sept. 15.

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